The present invention relates, in general, to a multiple switch device and, in particular, to an off board, on-line multiple switch device for selectively opening and closing circuits in a multi-conductor electrical cable termination assembly.
Multi-conductor electrical cables, such as flat ribbon-type cables, are employed, for example, to provide simultaneous electrical connection of a plurality of circuits at one location to another plurality of circuits at another location. To facilitate connecting such a cable to such circuits respective multiple contact terminations are secured at each end of the cable to connect the conductors thereof with respective contacts of a multiple contact receptacle, or the like, which terminate such circuits. The combination of such a multi-conductor electrical cable and a termination therefor is usually referred to as a multi-conductor electrical cable termination assembly, cable termination assembly, or the like.
Typically such multi-conductor electrical cables of the flat ribbon-type, for example, have more than two and usually on the order of from about twenty to about fifty or even more conductors, and the terminations therefor include a corresponding number of electrical contacts arranged in two parallel rows in a conventional dual-in-line pattern for facility of manipulation and compactness. Moreover, such terminations usually may be categorized as either female or male type, depending on the type of electrical contact employed therein, such as, for example, fork contacts or pin contacts, respectively.
An advantage of such usage of cable termination assemblies is the facility with which many connections can be simultaneously made. Another advantage is the relative compactness of the cable termination assembly, which enables those many connections to be made in a relatively small space. However, one disadvantage encountered in the past using such cable termination assemblies has been the inability to switch open or closed selected conductor circuits therefor with facility while at the same time maintaining the above and other advantages.